Product Details

The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, McGonigal created a course called "The Science of Willpower" for Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. The course was an instant hit and spawned the hugely successful Psychology Today blog with the same name.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, McGonigal's book explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. Readers will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

People who have better control of their attention, emotions, and actions are healthier, happier, have more satisfying relationships, and make more money.

Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health.

Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, and that the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help readers with goals ranging from a healthier life to more patient parenting, from greater productivity at work to finally finishing the basement.

Preview Your Review

Your Review Has Been Submitted

Educational/Developmental Value:

Durability:

Hours of Play:

Thank you. Your review has been submitted and will appear here shortly.

Reviews

Rated 4 out of
5 by
BigB from
For Everyone who wants to do AnythingThis is a very clear objective collection of observations of how humans do and do not use the function of willpower. If you are looking to debate whether this is fully accurate, or whether there is a better model, you'd be missing the very valuable point of this book: If you understand how willpower works, you can guide yourself, and provide useful guidance for others. Not necessarily easy, but deceptively simple. An excellent addition to any bookshelf.

Date published: 2013-08-03

Rated 5 out of
5 by
David_Abbott from
a science book that doubles as self-help"The Willpower Instinct: How Self-control Works, Why It Matters, And What You Can Do To Get More Of It" by Kelly Mcgonigal is a well-written self-help/science book about self-control. McGonigal wrote the book from a course she developed at Stanford University called 'the science of willpower". Unlike many self-help books, McGonigal doesn't prescripe what to do to get more self-control. Rather, she explores what is scientifically known. Willpower, she defines as being summed up by "I will", "I won't", and "I want". That is, to say yes when you need to say yes, and no when you mean no, and to have the motivation to set a goal, to want something. The reader therefore is invited to take insights from the latest evidence and, perhaps, apply it to there own self-control goal: weight-loss, exercise, etc.

Date published: 2012-06-26

– More About This Product –

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-control Works, Why It Matters, And What You Can Do To Get More Of…

The following ISBNs are associated with this title:

ISBN - 10: 1583334386

ISBN - 13: 9781583334386

About the Book

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist McGonigal realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, she created a course called The Science of Willpower which was an instant hit for Stanford University.

From the Publisher

The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, McGonigal created a course called "The Science of Willpower" for Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. The course was an instant hit and spawned the hugely successful Psychology Today blog with the same name.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, McGonigal's book explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. Readers will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

People who have better control of their attention, emotions, and actions are healthier, happier, have more satisfying relationships, and make more money.

Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health.

Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, and that the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help readers with goals ranging from a healthier life to more patient parenting, from greater productivity at work to finally finishing the basement.

About the Author

Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., is an award-winning psychology instructor at Stanford University, and a lecturer and program developer at the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She is also the author of Psychology Today’s Science of Willpower blog and lives in Palo Alto, California.

Editorial Reviews

"What a liberating book! Kelly McGonigal explains the scientific reality of willpower, exploding the myths that most of us believe. Stronger willpower-based on inspiring facts, not oppressive nonsense-is finally within everyone's reach." -Geoff Colvin, author of Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else